     A Rapid City man arrested in Chadron in 2019 for kidnapping a woman in Rapid City and holding her on the Pine Ridge Reservation and a motel in Crawford has been sentenced to a pair of life terms.
     37-year old Jesse Sierra was convicted by a federal Jury last October on charges including kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.
       He was given life sentences on those two counts plus 10-year terms on three other charges: interstate domestic violence, assault, and assault by strangulation of a dating partner.
At sentencing, Sierra’s attorney told Judge Daneta Wollman that his client should receive no more than 18 years in prison, in part because the victim has moved on, and that she is resilient.
      Sierra and his family also testified, but Judge Wollman said after hearing their statements that Sierra is filled with rage and has never shown remorse or taken responsibility for his actions.
      Sierra’s older brother, 38-year old Dustin, was convicted at the same October trial of aiding and abetting kidnapping and interstate domestic violence for helping his brother.
Dustin and his family also addressed the judge, but he said felt bad for his part in the crime and accepted any punishment the court deemed necessary.
Wollmann then gave him 10-years each count, but ordered them to be served at the same time, saying she reduced the sentence because Sierra had taken responsibility for what he did.
The victim had been missing several days in July 2019 when Jesse Sierra dropped her off at Chadron Community Hospital with multiple injuries.
    He was arrested in Chadron later that day, but Nebraska charges were later dropped because Sierra faced even more serious federal and state charges in South Dakota.
 Jesse Sierra’s arrest eventually led to Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey’s conviction for official misconduct for refusing to take Sierra as a prisoner at the county jail over concerns about jail security and Sierra’s medical condition.
A special prosecutor from the attorney general’s office argued Dailey acted out of spite over feuds and perceived slights by the State Patrol and the Chadron Police Department and County Judge Randin Roland agreed.
Dailey’s appeal to the district court was denied last year, but when his attorney took it to the Court of Appeals, the Nebraska Supreme Court decided to hear the case itself. No date has been set for the appeal.